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A reader spotted this Home Depot deal bundle on the Milwaukee M12 Rocket worklight, and asked if it’s a good value or not.
Tom (thanks for the heads-up!) wrote:
What is your take on this M12 rocket light special offer at Home Depot? Seems like a good to me but I’ve never seen the light in person, only online.
I think that this is a very good deal for what you get. This bundle gives you the M12 Rocket worklight plus an M12 starter kit with (2) XC 6.0Ah batteries and a charger for $199. The worklight is regularly priced at $179, and the starter set $199.
I’ve been holding onto a sample of the M12 Rocket worklight, and it continues to see regular use. It’s compact, bright, and highly portable.
It’s not as bright or tall as Milwaukee’s M18 models, but the tradeoff is that it’s smaller, lighter, and easier to set up in indoor spaces. For instance, carrying one of the full-sized M18 Rocket tripod lights into a basement or attic can be a chore and bigger hassle compared to the M12.
Milwaukee says that the M12 has a 45% smaller footprint compared to their M18 Rocket Tower lights, and this difference is definitely noticeable in use.
1400 lumens is still plenty of illumination brightness, and the M12 Rocket’s 5’8″ max extension gives it plenty of reach. The lamp head is also very adjustable and easy to aim. It also has a 700 lumen low mode and it delivers up to 10 hours of runtime with a fully charged XC 6.0Ah battery.
It deploys in seconds and closes down to a 31″ length.
I really like Milwaukee’s M18 Tower lights, but this M12 sees a bit more use (for my needs and purposes) in occupied spaces. I use M18 (and its competitors’ 20V Max) models almost exclusively outside due to their size.
This is a higher priced deal, but it seems to be very good for what you get. If you’re interested in the included XC 6Ah batteries and charger, or even just the light and batteries, I think this is going to be the best bang for the buck deal we’ll see on the M12 Rocket light. It’s a convenient and versatile worklight, and its size works very well for my needs.
Price: $199
Price History & Value
Last year, just ahead of Black Friday (2020), the M12 rocket worklight was on sale for $129 as a bare tool. It’s currently $179 as a bare tool. A 2-pack of 3Ah XC batteries was $79, meaning you could get a 2x3Ah bundle (but no charger) for $209. The early Black Friday deal was $209 for the Rocket worklight plus a 4Ah XC battery.
This past March (2021), a reader spotted a deal on the M12 Rocket light w/ a 6Ah battery for $149.
M12 XC 6Ah batteries are currently priced at $119 individually or $189 for two, and the M12 Rocket light sells for $179 as a bare tool.
With this bundle, you get the worklight with 2x 6Ah batteries and a charger for $199. This deal offers a greater value than previous offers, but this also raises the price tag.
Based on this, and in my opinion, I don’t think we’ll see a better deal on the M12 Rocket this season.
Who Should Not Buy This Deal?
With this deal, I would marry one of the batteries to the worklight and use the second one for a different worklight, a jobsite radio, or similar.
But, if you have absolutely no use for the batteries or charger, you might want to wait on a bare tool or smaller bundle deal.
Or, if you really have your heart set on an M18 Rocket light, the M12’s smaller size might be too much of a compromise.
If the M18 is a chef’s knife, the M12 is a 5″ utility knife or steak knife. There’s overlap and some interchangeability between how they can be used, but their suitability is really environment-specific.
